Black Keys manager won’t be prosecuted

The Metro District Attorney's office has decided not to further investigate an allegation of bribery leveled against the manager of The Black Keys last month.

Fielding Logan

A review by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation turned up no evidence of a crime, District Attorney Victor Johnson wrote in a letter to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jack Johnson.

The senator had requested that the district attorney’s office review a letter he received from an opponent of the Fairness in Ticketing Act accusing Fielding Logan of offering tickets The Black Keys concert in Nashville in exchange for the withholding of testimony against the proposal in a Senate hearing. Logan manages the rock band.

Logan and the accuser, John Ray Clemmons, were on opposite sides of the proposal, which sought to place stricter regulations on the event ticket resale market in Tennessee. The bill stalled in the legislature this year amid mounting opposition from industry and conservative groups.

Logan admitted to offering tickets to Clemmons, an attorney who operates a Nashville nonprofit, but said it was not an attempt to get Clemmons to back down. The offer was meant to demonstrate the ease with which "paperless tickets" can be transferred, a point of disagreement in discussions of the ticket resale proposal.

Based on statements taken from Clemmons and Logan by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, District Attorney Johnson decided Logan’s actions were not criminal.

“It appears, at best, to be an innocent misunderstanding or, at worst, a dispute between two persons on opposite sides of a legislative issue,” Johnson wrote. “In either event, I do not believe the facts clearly establish that Mr. Logan was attempting to corruptly influence the testimony of Mr. Clemmons.”

Clemmons did not reply to a request for comment Friday evening. Logan said he was pleased with the finding.

“I appreciate District Attorney Johnson's swift, thorough, and fair resolution of this matter,” Logan said. “I always knew I had done nothing wrong, but it was good to have a public official affirm that.”